A Wing And A Prayer
by AmetheSecond
Summary: Harry's about to turn seventeen and is planning on making a few changes. Problem is, there are certain changes he isn't expecting, and they'll alter his life more than he could have ever imagined. Slash- HarryDracoSeverus. See first chapter for warnings.
1. Chapter 1

Title: A Wing And A Prayer  
Author: Amejisuto  
Fandom: Harry Potter with a hint of a crossover to be reveled at a later date.  
Pairing: Eventual Harry/Draco/Severus  
Word Count for this chapter: 4377  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. .  
Warnings/Squicks: Total break from canon after OotP. Misguided!Dumbles, Not so good!Order, bad language and misuse of feathers. Abuse of Chalk Horses. Watch out for a Snickering!Snape as well, although he's usually laughing AT Harry, not with him so hopefully he's not too OOC.  
Summary: Harry's about to turn seventeen and is planning on making a few changes. Problem is, there are certain changes he isn't expecting, and they'll alter his life more than he could have ever imagined.  
Beta'd by the wonderful Suki Blue! Thank you dearest!

Notes: First things first, while this is a Harry has wings fic, it is NOT a Vanterra or Veela fic. He's got wings for a totally different reason, but the reason will be reveled later on in the fic. You'll figure it out with Harry. I do have to admit that a lot of the ideas of how Harry looks, wingspan, weight, height, all that good stuff, comes from three different sources. One is Warren Worthington III, also know to X-men fans as Angel. Another is Carter Hall, aka Hawkman.

The third is a secret, because I'm using bits of that fandom for a crossover. Not any characters or anything but for historical background.

This is gonna be another slow story folks. I'll be updating about once a month. And yet again I ignore the last two books pretty much altogether. I may use some bits of, say, Severus's back story with Lilly, but there isn't any horcruxes and there was never any oath between Severus and Narcissa to keep Draco safe. Sorry folks, but the last two books aren't my favorite. For god's sake JK made Draco BALD! That's just so wrong.

**Chapter One**

Harry Potter had never had an easy life. Oh, that first year and a half he had spent in his parents' care were probably everything a baby and toddler could ask for, but with the exception of his parents' deaths brought back to him by the presence of Dementors, he couldn't exactly remember it.

Hagrid rescuing him from the Dursley's on his eleventh birthday had been, what Harry had hoped, a new start. That was not to be, for as soon as he stepped into the Wizarding World he learned that he was a mass of contradictions. He was The-Boy-Who-Lived and hailed a hero, yet he had grown up in a cupboard and had been abused and called a freak.

Now he was turning seventeen, and everything seemed to be changing without Harry's consent. As he got older, it felt as if instead of the control he imagined he'd have over his life, everything was chaos and confusion.

Hedwig helped. Being a Snowy Owl she rarely hooted or anything so common, but she had a repertoire of coos and hisses, not to mention the snapping of her beak, that got her point across quiet clearly. This summer he had been even more isolated, the Dursley's house warded so he couldn't even step more than five meters away from the door.

It had been a shock to say the least. He wasn't even able to do his usual outdoor chores. Vernon and Dudley seemed to enjoy it; Harry couldn't even escape outside to avoid their verbal -- and physical -- abuse.

Petunia, oddly enough, seemed to realize that Harry wanted to be there even less than she wanted him there; Harry wasn't trying to ruin their otherwise perfectly normal lives, it was just a by-product of the Headmaster once again enforcing his will on those around him.

Not that Petunia did much to stop Vernon and her precious little Dudders when they started to abuse Harry, but she did curb her own tongue, which Harry valued, and allowed him to eat a bit more. Oh, and she missed every time she swung at him with her cast iron skillet, something Harry's skull appreciated to no end.

This was sure to be his worst birthday ever. Well, at least his worst one since he turned eleven. Hedwig never left the day before and had been hovering over him most of the day. Usually she left and would bring back Granger's gift since the Muggleborn witch had no owl of her own.

There would be no gifts from either of his so-called best friends today. No Quidditch related book, no chocolate frogs, no NEWT study guide. All because Harry pulled his head out of his arse and stopped seeing the world in black and white.

At the end of Fifth Year, Harry had been grief stricken and angry. He returned for Sixth Year more interested in studying than playing games of chess or flying on his broom. He even frustrated Granger by not studying for classes so much as reading everything he could get his hands on that might give him the edge over Voldemort.

He hadn't been the only student returning for Sixth Year with a changed attitude. Draco Malfoy had come back quieter somehow. Oh, he was still his snappish, antagonistic self but there had been something missing. After watching his school nemesis, Harry finally approached the other young man while they were both avoiding the Halloween Feast.

Amazingly enough, Draco was breaking the Malfoy Family's ties to the Dark Lord.

They didn't talk often, but once in a while books on the Dark Arts would appear in his messenger bag, hidden at the bottom under crude drawings of his friends and characters of himself. It was too dangerous for them to even try to really become friends, especially since Draco was trying to keep the Malfoy lands and vaults out of Voldemort's hands and if there had been a hint of their ... relationship someone would inform ol' Snake Face.

So Harry did the only thing he could do, he ignored Draco and tried to keep Ron on a leash around the blond Slytherin, without it being obvious.

As the school year passed, Draco became thinner and even his glamors couldn't hide the shadows under his eyes. Everything came to a head in the spring when word leaked out about his true allegiances, and his Father broke out of Azkaban prison.

At the time Harry had been stuck at Hogwarts, and only Professor Snape knew of his friendship with Draco. He'd been terrified that the elder Malfoy had been planning to do something to his son. What made things worse was that Draco had gone home, and had been ordered to attend a session of the Wizengamot in regards to his title.

What happened was worse than anything Harry imagined. He had thought the elder Malfoy would take his revenge on his wayward offspring. That had been proved wrong when Voldemort himself appeared at the Ministry, killing people left and right in order to reach the Malfoy Heir.

When the dust settled, Lucius Malfoy had died to protect his wife and son, Severus Snape was discovered as a spy and tortured, and Narcissa Malfoy had thrown herself in front of the Killing Curse to protect her son. Fifteen innocent bystanders died in the attack and in the space of an hour Draco Malfoy was an orphan.

After that, everything seemed to change. The Headmaster seemed to be put out that Snape had revealed his true allegiances, despite the fact that if he hadn't, Draco would have been killed. Harry found himself bitterly wondering if the Old Coot would have been just as pissed if it was Harry Snape had saved, or if the old man just didn't give a bloody fuck for the young blond.

Slytherin House became a House divided. Most of the upper years turned on Malfoy, while the younger ones who didn't have older siblings and family to influence them seemed to look up to Draco and their Head of House. Meanwhile Snape and Draco had to fend off attacks from within Slytherin and outside.

The worst came one overcast day in May, when Ronald Weasley decided to torment Draco about the loss of his parents. Normally Harry would have tried to just stay out of it, knowing his support of Draco wouldn't exactly help the blond, but listening to someone who was supposed to be his best mate pick on someone about their mother throwing herself in front of a curse meant for Draco, well Harry just snapped and he found himself cursing Ron with one of the borderline Dark curses he knew.

Oddly enough he wasn't the only one. Neville Longbottom, who had his own unique situation with his parents, chose that moment to let loose his own hex on the red head they'd both considered a friend, giving Ron plant-like tentacles for hair that seemed to be trying to strangle the boy as he doubled over in pain, the curse Harry was using making his bollocks crawl up into his stomach cavity.

To tell the truth he'd been halfway expecting it of Ron, but what really hurt was to see Hermione and Ginny turn on them. Luckily Luna wasn't quite as Loony as she seemed, and probably knew more DADA than Hermione did, despite her younger age. She managed to produce a shield to protect him and Neville while at the same time hexing the two other girls: Ginny's blouse had a life of its own and pulled up over her head, showing off her tattered underthings while Hermione's nose got so big she had a hard time not falling forward.

Of course things never went right for Harry, or his friends. When all was said and done they had to listen to a lecture by both McGonagall and Dumbledore, and they had lost Slytherin and Ravenclaw fifty points each, while Gryffindor lost one hundred.

They also had two weeks worth of detention with Snape, but oddly enough the Slytherin Head of House seemed to actually admire the three who defended Draco, tutoring them in their studies and going so far as to help Neville with the potion that had turned out to be on the final.

And that was part of the problem, Snape actually unbent enough to compliment both Harry and Neville in Potions Class – not the same one obviously, it wouldn't do to give them too many ideas – while at the same time giving both Weasleys and Granger as much vitriol as he could. Even the Headmaster had tried to curb Snape's tendencies after two weeks of it, but the Slytherin sneered and reminded the Headmaster, in the Great Hall no less, that he had his approval to make the Gryffindors life a living hell. "After all," he said, "it wouldn't do if his brave Lions didn't have a villain to fight against."

By the time Harry had left on the Hogwarts Express, House rivalries were at an all time high, and the Headmaster had decided to punish Harry by incarcerating him at the Dursleys. Joy.

Harry had thought the Weasley parents would have understood. Even if he hadn't formed a relationship with Draco, it was the right thing to stop Ron's teasing. They were supposed to be better than the Death Eaters. Harry and Neville knew the pain of growing up with no parents, and Luna had lost her mother. Maybe it was because Ron, Ginny and Hermione still had their parents that made them not understand but it just wasn't something to taunt someone with.

Not even your worst enemy.

But Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had been disappointed in him, and wondered where he had learned such an "Evil Curse". Harry hadn't said anything, unwilling to point out it was an old Pureblood curse that the ladies of certain families used when a man was pressing his 'unwanted attention' on them. For one thing the book had come from Draco.

And for another, Harry didn't want to admit he'd used a curse that was usually reserved for Victorian ladies. Bloody embarrassing that was, despite the fact that it gave him spectacular results. It was doubly embarrassing since Draco knew where Harry had gotten it and had taken to teasing the Gryffindor about being a Lady.

Draco may have refused Voldie and they had some sort of weird truce, but he was still a prat.

The clock in Harry's room counted down the last ten seconds of July 30th and Harry waited for the last few ticks of the clock. When midnight struck he let out a slow breath. He had halfway expected something big to happen, the Old Man had hinted around at some sort of magical inheritance, but when nothing happened other then Harry becoming a legal adult in the Wizarding world, he couldn't help but feel relived.

The first thing he did was take his wand out from its hiding place under the floorboards beneath his bed and cast several charms to air out the room and clean himself up a bit. Vernon refused to allow the "freak" to use the shower so he'd been washing himself in the sink in the kitchen. Harry had a few plans about what happened now that he was of age, but they all depended on Dumbles. However nearly all of them included finding somewhere safe to stay, with or without the Order's approval, and spending a good hour or two in the bath.

The next thing Harry did was use his wand to open his window. The bars that had appeared before Second Year were long gone, but Vernon had not only painted the window closed the year before, but nailed it shut as well. Instead of trying to undo all of that, Harry simply made the glass vanish. As it was his room was unbearably hot, and Harry would rather deal with a few flies and gnats than the heat.

Maybe he could cast _Engorgio_ on the flies and set them on Dudley when he left the loo. It would be wickedly amusing and ironic.

As Harry was dreaming of giant flies carrying his cousin away, a barn owl, a gyrfalcon, a raven and a Bali Myna bird all approached his window, and Hedwig gave a trill while moving over on her perch to allow one of the birds to land as the others found perches.

Seeing them made Harry's heart a bit lighter. After all, he hadn't expected anything for his birthday this year. Both Remus and Hagrid had been forced to leave the country the summer before, Dark Creature and Dangerous Crossbreeds that they were.

Some days Harry wondered how Fudge put on his trousers in the morning, and then he remembered he had Percy the Boot Licker there to do it for him. The prat probably adjusted him too. Remus and Hagrid couldn't even chance sending mail, the Ministry was examining all owls that came from other countries, looking for Death Eaters. Never mind that most of the DE's were Brits who considered everyone else below them, or the fact that only the law abiding citizens who were unwilling to go to Voldemort for protection were forced from their homes.

All Fudge did was sway more people to Voldie's cause. With friends like him, who needed enemies?

Harry sat up on his bed and petted the Myna first. It was a medium sized white bird with a blue mask around her eyes and a habit of playing with his hair. Her name was Sparkles and she was Luna's bird. Well, it was more like Luna was her girl. Luna had taken a holiday in India the summer before and the rare bird had followed her home. Sparkles doted on her girl and could often be found perching on her head, blonde locks used for nesting materials.

Harry didn't ask. Some things he really did NOT want to know about.

Sparkles had a scroll attached to his leg, that when unrolled put on a small fireworks show and sung _Happy Birthday_, and gave Harry a gift certificate for the Magical Menagerie. Harry grinned and thanked Sparkles, wishing he had parchment or even some post-its to be able to write a proper thank you note. Sparkles didn't seem to mind though, and flew out the window after nipping at Harry's ear.

Harry turned to the gyrfalcon next. His name was Magus and he belonged to Draco. He was an officious looking bird, but Harry had discovered the few times the bird had delivered books to him that he loved being scratched in the middle of his back. Harry did that now and the falcon all but purred, his hooded eyes closing in rapture.

While Magus melted into a pile of feathers and goo, Harry relived him of his burden. There were no fireworks or even a card, but the book and bird let Harry know who it was from. _Grey Magics and Barely Legal Curses the Ministry Doesn't Want You to Know_. Just reading the title made Harry laugh, honestly who named these things? Then again he supposed there was something to say about truth in advertising.

Next came Bran, Snape's raven. He'd only seen the bird once before, but from that short meeting he saw that the bird was much like his human companion, and Harry found himself handling the bird with great respect just in case Snape could see out of its eyes.

Or it was Snape himself in Animagus form. Really, Harry wouldn't put it past the former spy.

As with Draco's gift, there was no note. Simply a small potion bottle with contents the color of gold.

_Felix Felicius_.

Harry couldn't help his indrawn breath. The potion in small doses gave confidence as well as good luck. He wasn't even sure what went in it. He heard Hermione talk about it once but he had turned her out once she explained that only a Potions Master could make it accurately and give it full strength. The ingredients were costly as well, making Ron complain that only someone with money could make it and therefore they didn't need luck all that much if they were rich.

Harry had money, even if he'd never been given access to most of it, but considering that he was trapped in his relatives' house with one madman after his blood and a manipulative old bastard trying to manage his life down to what clothes he wore, he needed the luck more than the money.

Harry reached up to carefully stroke Bran. "Thank you Bran, for bringing this. And thank Professor Snape for me too? This means ..." Harry swallowed a lump in his throat. "This means a bloody lot to me, Bran. Thank you both."

The raven didn't say anything, even though Harry halfway expected it to talk. He seemed to nod though, and took off to share Hedwig's perch, the white owl giving him a welcoming trill.

The last owl was Neville's, and was very familiar since Harry himself had bought the owl for his friend before school ended as an early birthday present. He just hadn't thought it fair that all of his other friends had birds and Nev didn't. Neville had named her Phantom, since her large wings made little or no noise as she flew and she was as pale as a ghost.

"Hey there, girl, what did Neville send?"

Phantom gave a short hiss and held out her leg. There was a box that once he opened he found a selection of Honeydukes' chocolates and a book, _The Healer's Helpmate_. Harry had to grin at the book; Neville had decided at the beginning of Sixth Year that since he'd been in the infirmary so often he might like to become a Healer.

Probably surviving his Potions OWLS helped him make that choice.

He was doing pretty good too. He'd healed Harry of his black eye after an encounter with Ron right before Finals. Like Harry, he had become much more studious last year, and Harry though his quiet friend might be holding out hope that someday he might be able to help his parents. If anyone could do it, it would be Neville.

Like Sparkle, Phantom left as soon as Harry had thanked her for the gift, silently gliding out the window. Bran and Magus stayed though, the raven settling on the top of Harry's old wardrobe and the falcon perching on his desk. Magus seemed as if he was offended by the décor of his room and it made Harry laugh.

The bird was such a snob.

"Magus, if you think it looks bad now, you should have seen where I used to stay."

If anything, Magus looked even more disgusted and Harry laughed and picked up the book from Draco and started flipping through it, occasionally pointing out a hex or curse he'd like to try on someone. He did this out loud, a silencing spell on the door so Vernon and Petunia wouldn't hear, mainly so he could hear his own voice. The three birds were good companions though, and Bran especially liked the idea of hexing his family as well as the Headmaster with a curse that caused everything they ate to taste like shite.

Finally though, it was time for him to sleep and Harry turned off the light and shut the book. A wave of his wand provided water for his avian friends since they didn't seem inclined to leave. Before he could go to sleep though, Bran swept down and picked up the potion bottle his master had made for Harry, dropping the _Felix Felicius_ on Harry's head.

"Ow! Ruddy bird. You and Snape are as bad as each other." For the first time that night the raven gave voice to his thoughts, giving Harry a through scolding in his raucous voice.

"All right, all right, I get the message! And here I thought it might be a good idea to save it when something big was happening, like Voldie showing up, or NEWTS." The raven continued to berate him as Harry took out the stopper and carefully placed only one drop on his tongue.

Despite it being such a small dose, Harry's mouth burst with flavor. It was the first potion he'd taken that actually tasted good. What was curious was the fact that he couldn't pin point and say what the taste was. It was like the best chocolate or the finest roast beef and the tastiest butterbeer and the freshest bread. Harry had been a bit hungry, but now he felt full, as if he'd eaten at one of Hogwarts grand feasts and while he was still sleepy he wasn't that bone deep tired that one felt after a day of hard work. It was like standing in the sun after a long winter. Or a hug from someone who really cared and wasn't just hugging him to prove something.

It was the best feeling Harry had ever had in his lifetime. Or at least as far back as he could remember. Maybe his Mum and Da have given him a feeling like that, but he couldn't remember. It was better than the first time he flew or the first time he had a Christmas pudding.

Harry gasped, it felt so good. "Merlin!" Bran and Magus both watched him, a sense of amusement coming from them while Hedwig looked on worriedly. "Bloody hell! If that potion made me feel any better I'd have to damn well wash the sheets." Hedwig took to scolding him while the other two seemed to be laughing at him.

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead and laugh, you ruddy birds." Why he'd said that he didn't know; when it came to sex, Harry seemed to be behind all of his year mates. He wasn't sure if it was because he wanted to wait until he cared for someone, was stunted thanks to the Dursleys, stunted thanks to Voldemort or just damn well picky.

Not something he wanted to think about when he was alone in his room.

Instead he turned over and pulled the bobbly sheet over his head. "I'm leaving the window open in case you guys need to leave before morning. Meanwhile, I'm going to sleep. Night guys. Night Hedwig."

Hedwig gave a trill and he could hear her putting her head under her wing. Snowy owls were active during the day for the most part which was nice because that gave them the same schedule. Magus and Bran didn't say anything really. The falcon merely clicked its beak as if he was keeping himself quiet. As Harry looked at the battered clock on his bedside he saw it was just after one in the morning as he settled in for a few hours of sleep.

What Harry didn't know was that he was born at 3:16 in the morning. So he only managed a couple of hours of rest before his eyes snapped open and his entire body felt like he was being tortured.

The last thing that went through Harry's mind was the fact that he thought magical maturations were a load of bollocks.

Looked like he was wrong.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"...don't worry. He should be out for a few more hours. We used four _Stupefys_ to make sure he'd stay out."

Harry listened to the voices in the hallway, and what he heard froze him in his tracks. He kept still and quiet, unwilling to let anyone know their so-called stunners were crap. Normally Harry didn't wake up so quickly, at least not unless dear ol' Vernon was banging on his bloody door, but not this morning. This morning he was wide awake.

"I don't understand, Headmaster, how did this happen? I didn't think the boy had any creature blood in him."

"To tell the truth, Kingsley, I'm not sure. I know James never showed any signs. Perhaps Lily wasn't as human as she seemed."

"Always knew there wouldn't be anything good coming out of him breeding with a Muggleborn."

"Now, Alastor ..."

The voices moved down the hall, which was a good thing since Harry was itching to use Draco's book and test out how legal some of those hexes were. The first voice he hadn't recognized, but Shacklebolt, Dumbledore and Moody were in on whatever was happening.

Unfortunately, he wasn't surprised or even shocked. If anything, Harry was resigned. Something big was happening in his life and it seemed as if the Headmaster was working out how to manipulate him while he was unconscious.

Harry figured it was the drop of _Felix Felicius_ that caused him to wake up when he did. That had indeed been a stroke of good luck.

He waited a few moments before cautiously opening his eyes. Luckily there was no one in the room but Hedwig, and she was keeping quiet while glaring balefully at the door. If owls could imitate Snape's Death Glare, Hedwig was accomplishing it.

That was when Harry really noticed his surroundings. His head was to one side but he was lying on his stomach, something he'd stopped doing back when he was young and Dudley was small enough to sneak into his cupboard and would sit on his head, trying to smother him. He might have been scrawny but being able to bite had stopped Dudley from tormenting him that way at the very least.

He very cautiously stretched, trying to make sure whatever had happened hadn't damaged him permanently. Before this he had been considering leaving Privet Drive, he'd just been unsure of if he'd be physically able to. Now Harry knew he was going to try. He figured he couldn't end up any more screwed.

As he was stretching, he noticed something brushing the back of his legs. Slowly he turned his head to look over his shoulder, and it was only his fear of the fact that the other wizards in the house might hear him that kept him from swearing out loud.

Sometime during the night, Harry had grown wings.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Additional Author's Notes: I was going to put up the song that inspired the title but I don't belive it's allowed here. I'm not sure if it's public domain or not so I'll just tell y'all. It's the theme song to the old American TV series, The Greatest American Hero. The lyrics are great and are how I wanted Harry to feel about the changes in his life for the most part. Visit my web site or Insane Journal if you want to find the lyrics or look up Greatest American Hero lyric by Mike Post and Stephen Geyer.


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry this is so late people ... my allergies are trying to kill me I think.

Title: A Wing And A Prayer  
Author: Amejisuto  
Fandom: Harry Potter with a hint of a crossover to be reveled at a later date.  
Pairing: Eventual Harry/Draco/Severus  
Word Count for this chapter: 3531  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. .  
Warnings/Squicks: Total break from canon after OotP. Misguided!Dumbles, Not so good!Order, bad language and misuse of feathers. Abuse of Chalk Horses. Watch out for a Snickering!Snape as well, although he's usually laughing AT Harry, not with him so hopefully he's not too OOC.  
Summary: Harry's about to turn seventeen and is planning on making a few changes. Problem is, there are certain changes he isn't expecting, and they'll alter his life more than he could have ever imagined.  
Beta'd by the wonderful Suki Blue, Thank you dearest!

Notes: First things first, while this is a Harry has wings fic, it is NOT a Vanterra or Veela fic. He's got wings for a totally different reason, but the reason will be reveled later on in the fic. You'll figure it out with Harry. I do have to admit that a lot of the ideas of how Harry looks, wingspan, weight, height, all that good stuff, comes from three different sources. One is Warren Worthington III, also know to X-men fans as Angel. Another is Carter Hall, aka Hawkman.

The third is a secret, because I'm using bits of that fandom for a crossover. Not any characters or anything but for historical background.

This is gonna be another slow story folks. I'll be updating about once a month. And yet again I ignore the last two books pretty much altogether. I may use some bits of, say, Severus's back story with Lilly, but there isn't any horcruxes and there was never any oath between Severus and Narcissa to keep Draco safe. Sorry folks, but the last two books aren't my favorite. For god's sake JK made Draco BALD! That's just so wrong.

**Chapter Two**

Harry considered sitting up, finding a wall, and smashing his head into it. Why did everything weird seem to center around him? He made a mental note to never travel to the Bahamas or Tibet; knowing his luck he'd disappear or be molested by a Yeti. Then again, Moaning Myrtle still made it a habit of peeping at him when he was in the shower so a pervy Yeti he could probably get used to.

The only thing keeping Harry from trying to bash his brains in was the fact that he didn't want anyone to hear. Well, that wasn't true. He figured if he could get over the shock of changing species he might actually enjoy having wings. After all, nothing in the world gave him as much pleasure as being on his broom, the ground far beneath him as he soared into the freedom that was the sky.

That was if his wings worked.

Harry slowly got up, trying to keep the bed from creaking. At the end of the school year he had made a few plans about running away on his birthday, and had acted accordingly. All of his belongings that he really cared about, photo album, books, broom, his good clothes, he'd shrunk and hidden in his school messenger bag. He had then cast a Notice Me Not charm on his bag.

Vernon had never even looked at it.

Harry was thankful for that now. His school trunk was locked up, as always, and even if it was in his room, there was no way Harry was going to risk alerting Dumbledore that he was awake by performing a shrinking charm on his stuff. And there was no way he was carrying a huge trunk.

Harry looked around the room as he tried to find some clothes. He'd been sleeping in his boxers and an old sleeveless shirt of Dudley's. He gave up finding a shirt as a bad job since he had no idea how to put a shirt on around the wings and simply pulled on an old pair of school trousers.

Whatever had happened to give him wings, evidently had caused him to have a growth spurt. Harry found he was more muscular and not nearly as scrawny as he had been. Ordinarily that would have been cause for much rejoicing but this morning it just made Harry swear.

His trousers had ripped up the back.

Harry so didn't need that this morning.

Looking around the room, Harry noticed that both Bran and Magus had left sometime during the night, and he sighed in relief. It was bad enough that Hedwig was silently laughing at him.

He went to his old wardrobe and pulled on a pair of Dudley's tattered jeans. They were way too big but he used his belt to tighten them up. It was better than trying to run away from home with his knickers flashing everyone. Especially since they were a pair the Twins had given him last year for his birthday with snitches flying on them. That would be embarrassing.

Sometimes Harry felt as if his life was a bad episode of _Blackadder_, and then he remembered Minister Fudge and changed it to _Monty Python_ He figured Fudge started out in the Ministry of Silly Walks with that odd shuffle-waddle of his.

Harry shook his head to rid himself of his inane thoughts. Now was not a good time to get distracted. Harry spent a few minuets panicking when he noticed the potion Snape had given him was missing from his end table, but relaxed when he found the small bottle hidden in the toe of his old trainers. He looked around the room that had been his on and off for the past six summers, and saw that he had everything that he wanted.

With any luck he'd never set foot in this house again.

He walked over to the window that still had its glass missing. How Moody or any of the others missed it was beyond him. Perhaps it was another mystery that could be blamed on the _Felix Felicius_. Either way Harry was thankful. Hopefully his odd luck would hold out and no one would see him leaving.

That thought made him pause and he dug out the potion bottle from where he had secured it in his school bag. Harry knew if Dumbledore and the Order were around, he'd need all the luck he could get to get away from Privet Drive without anyone noticing. Another drop of the potion wouldn't hurt and might just help.

Of course that meant that Harry had to wait till the odd reaction he had to the potion had passed. He wished he dared to give Hedwig a bit; Harry's greatest fear was that someone would hurt his owl friend to get to him. And unlike Harry's human friends, she couldn't protect herself nearly as well.

He'd just have to hope his luck would carry over to her.

Harry went to the window and carefully dropped his bag. It had enough charms on it so that nothing would break. His window faced the street so it was unlikely anyone was out there watching from the Order, he'd just have to make sure no car was coming down the street and none of the neighbors were out.

Hedwig seemed to sense he was leaving, and the need for quiet. She silently glided from the old cage she used as a perch to where Harry was standing by the window, and looked at him. Then she went out the window, flying quickly to the oak tree in No. 6's front yard, hiding herself in the branches.

No one raised the alarm, and none of the neighbors seemed to be peeking out of their houses. The street was quiet.

And so Harry climbed over the window sill and let himself drop.

His wings unfurled and helped slow his decent. He was afraid of trying to fly, unsure if he could actually get very far. He knew that baby birds needed a week or two of practice flights to actually be able to go any distance, and baby hippogriffs had to be watched that they didn't strain their wings. So he figured he'd have to be careful starting out, and trying to go from Surrey to London or Wiltshire would be a bad idea.

His wings helped him glide down to the ground though, and he landed on his feet without falling or breaking anything, or making a huge thudding sound, so Harry felt sure no one in the house had noticed him.

He found his bag and pulled out his invisibility cloak. For a moment he was afraid it would be too small, after all, he had not only grown wings during the night but had gained some muscles and it felt like he'd added more than a few centimeters in height. He pulled it over his head and for a moment he was able to see the bottom of his shins and bony ankles and his scuffed up blue and yellow trainers.

Then the cloak shimmered and seemed to grow and Harry wasn't able to see any of himself anymore when he looked down. He let out a sigh of relief and then quickly walked away from the house that had been his prison, stopping only to let out a low whistle for Hedwig to follow as he made his way down the street. Whatever wards that had stopped him from leaving the property evidently didn't hold, or didn't matter to his new form, something he was grateful for.

He tried to stay on the path rather than the grass verges, figuring that the others might expect him to be invisible, and there was less of a chance that he'd give himself away by leaving tracks. It was a bit difficult though because today was rubbish day on Privet Drive and everyone had their bins out to be taken away. In the end he decided to jog quickly along the path and out in the road and move out of the way if a car was coming.

Every once in a while he would glance upward and see Hedwig soaring high overhead. He always worried about her, afraid that someone would get the bright idea of killing her to get to him. Once he had only worried about the Death Eaters and the Slytherins at school, now he worried about the Order, too. Ron was essentially a good person, but he was also jealous and petty and hotheaded at times. He felt that Harry's support of Draco was a betrayal of their friendship, never mind that Ron was being an arse. He wouldn't put it past his ex-best mate to see Hedwig and in his anger fire a curse off at her.

Oh, he'd be sorry once he'd calmed down. But that wouldn't help Hedwig if he did something nasty. He didn't put anything like that past Moody either; he wasn't supposed to be communicating with anyone and if the paranoid Auror saw Hedwig, he'd probably hex to kill.

Harry alternated walking and running, afraid to run full out in case someone was listening for footsteps, Hedwig keeping pace with him in the sky. The further away from Privet Drive he got, the more comfortable he felt.

Of course he didn't dare relax yet. He figured that Dumbledore had multiple ways of tracking him and Harry had no idea how long his _luck_ would last. After traveling at least a good kilometer Harry found a Muggle bus stop, and hoped that one would be coming along. He had no time schedule, and wasn't willing to wait long.

He leaned up against a tree nearby, and Hedwig lighted on a branch above his head, giving him a reassuring sound. He was over his first bout of panic now and was feeling rather tired. Harry wasn't quite sure what he was going to do just yet. He only trusted a handful of people and only Snape and possibly Malfoy had enough power to help him if Dumbledore was looking for him, and Snape was as much under the Headmaster's thumb as Harry was. Draco was on thin ice; he'd had his title confirmed by the Wizengamot but none of the members of the Light trusted him and the Dark members were out for his blood. Well, for the most part. There was a small faction that was claiming Neutrality, but they had little to no power as well.

Neville, well his Gran was in the Order. Not in Dumbledore's Inner Circle but still she supported the old man. And while he was fairly sure he could owl Luna and she'd help him research ... whatever it was he'd become, she couldn't hide him, even for a short while.

There was a noise above him and Harry looked up. Magus had landed on a branch under Hedwig. Harry smiled. Perhaps the bird would take a message to Draco for him. He was unsure if Hedwig could find the blond if he was secure behind Malfoy Manor's wards.

"Hey, Magus. I'm glad to see you." He started to carefully dig through his satchel, hoping to find a quill or a Muggle pen and some parchment.

"Of course you're glad to see me, scar-head. Anyone with half a brain would be glad to see me. I am nice to look at, after all."

Harry spun around, forgetting about his invisibility cloak and grabbing it before it could fall. He was torn between elation and frustration. There, sitting on the same stout branch that Magus had been perching on, was Draco Malfoy. Harry didn't think he'd ever been as glad to see the blond in his entire life.

Then again Draco seemed to sense that somehow, despite the cloak still covering him. The newly confirmed Lord Malfoy was smirking at him, making a small part of Harry wish the branch would break, dumping the smirking prat to the pavement.

Before that could happen though, Draco jumped down. The git really was graceful, he didn't even have the decency to slip and almost fall.

"Please don't tell me you're going to resort to using peasant transportation! They'd notice if someone was in a seat they couldn't see, Muggles aren't that dense."

Harry carefully removed the cloak, keeping it over his wings but allowing the rest of him to be revealed. "I was hoping to stand in the back, or maybe get a seat on the upper deck. And it's public transportation not peasant."

Draco rolled his eyes. "I say peasant, you say public, I say po-tah-toe, you say po-tay-toe. It's the same thing."

Harry rolled his eyes right back at him. "You're a jumped up ponce, Draco Malfoy," and there Harry started to grin. "But I'm glad to see you." His grin turned into a frown. "You could have told me you were Magus, you know! I assume Bran is ..."

"Not out here in the open, you moron!" Draco gave him a death glare that Snape must have taught him. "Just like we're not going to go into your sudden growth spurt from last night. You're not going to go all 'I'm a freak, nobody loves me, everyone hates me I'm going to eat flobberworms!' are you?"

Harry shrugged and couldn't help but noticed how odd it felt now that he had time to acknowledge he had wings. "Probably, for a little bit at least. I should think I'm entitled to one panic attack at the very least."

"Right. Let's get back to the Manor before you indulge your _Maidenly_ fit of the vapors."

Harry snorted but didn't argue. After all he'd give Draco just as much hell if Draco had used that curse on Weasley. They might be friends now but that didn't mean they were going to stop annoying each other. He'd wait until Draco wasn't expecting it and get the blond back. He stepped forward and took hold of the brass ring with the Malfoy Family crest on it as he held up his arm for Hedwig to take hold. He'd never seen the port key before, but he'd heard about it from Snape. Narcissa Malfoy had shoved it into her son's hands, causing the young man to be ported away as the Dark Lord aimed the killing curse at her back.

He wasn't going to ask about it though, not right now and maybe not ever. If Malfoy wanted to talk about the deaths of his parents he would, but Harry knew better than to push. Instead he settled Hedwig on his arm, ignoring how her sharp talons dug into his flesh. "It's okay to port with Hedwig isn't it? I wouldn't want her to be trapped outside your wards."

"Yes, it's okay for her, since your owl has a brain. Which is more than I can say for you. I mean, Hedwig is smarter than half of the Order, and most of the Death Eaters. You should give her more credit."

Harry shook his head. He couldn't explain to Draco about how through so many of the summers Hedwig had been his only friend and confident. It was too hard to put into words. "That's no reason to make her fly from Surrey to Wiltshire."

"Whatever you say, Harry. Hold on." Draco pulled him close, a strange sensation for Harry. It was almost as if his skin was more sensitive or something and he had to hold back a shudder. Draco looked at him oddly and then smirked. "And the first thing we're doing is getting you a shower. You stink Potter, should I pull out the badge from Fourth Year?"

Before Harry could snark back, Draco had said the password for the port key and a familiar hooking sensation gripped his middle.

Probably just as well though, for if Harry was honest he was feeling not-so fresh. Who wouldn't after a month and a half of washing in the sink? Still Harry got an odd feeling deep down inside, knowing that the blond was close enough to smell him. He fought the urge to sniff Draco. Instead he worked hard to push those thoughts to the back of his mind, instead focusing on the fact that he was going to Malfoy Manor willingly, and was glad of it.

Because he knew there, in what had been his enemy's home at one time, he would be safe.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Draco had all but shoved him into the guest suite's bath, saying that after Harry was clean and attired in something that hadn't been worn by a hippo, _then_ they would talk, over a late brunch. Harry hadn't fought him, he was too confused and too tired.

The room he was given was unbelievable. There was a walk-in closet that made Harry embarrassed over his lack of wardrobe. He'd bought himself a few things last year to wear around school when he wasn't required to wear his school uniform but not much, since it wasn't as if he needed that much. He'd left most of it behind since it was all things he could easily replace. Of course after his odd growth spurt and wing sproutage, most of it wouldn't fit anyway so it was just as well.

The bed was huge, decorated in blues and ivory with sliver trim on the pillow shams and bed curtains. Fluffy pillows of all shapes and sizes decorated the top and it made Harry even more sleepy just looking at it. There was a fireplace and across from that was a reading corner with a big cushy chair and a sofa that matched the bedding, with a bookcase and end table.

Harry could see himself staying in this room, the warm looking throw over his lap as he curled up in the chair reading. It surprised him how comfortable he felt. He'd always thought Malfoy Manor would be cold and imposing. He hadn't seen much of it, just the foyer and the staircases and hallways leading up to his room, but while everything was posh, it was also soothing somehow.

And Harry _loved_ the bath. Oh, the toilet itself was standard. Harry supposed that he'd expected something more like a throne in a Malfoy loo, but he was glad there wasn't. There was a bidet to the side, something that Harry had very little knowledge over, and even a urinal. The sink was a masterpiece of brass fittings and marble, the mirror huge with torches on either side so it lit up. The mirror was magic but you could mute it if you wished, disabling the troublesome comments one normally got from magic mirrors, and the bath itself was big enough for four people to soak in comfortably. If Harry had more time, it would have been no problem to get him and his new wings in there for a hot bath, and he was looking forward to trying it out.

Right now though it was the shower he was luxuriating in. Somehow, the bath in his guest room was bigger than the bedroom itself, and the shower was as big as the Dursley's entire loo, something quite remarkable since Vernon had bought the house oh-so many years ago on the fact that the bathroom in the Master Bedroom was huge enough to fit his fat arse.

There were three shower heads, and a seemingly never-ending supply of hot water. Harry was pushing the limit since he'd been in there a good half hour. There had been a basket of necessaries on the counter by the sink, containing everything from soap and shampoo to a shaving kit, and Harry had washed the stink of his Muggle relatives off of him gladly, soaping himself twice with the bar of milled soap that smelled of sandalwood and herbs.

After he was clean from top to bottom, he'd stood there under the spray of hot water and spread out his wings. He hadn't really had a chance to look at them before, he'd been too rushed and frankly, too shocked by his change. He knew they were _there_ of course, but it was almost as if he thought if he didn't look at them they wouldn't be real.

Now he stood under the streaming water and unfurled them from his back and watched as the water beaded off his feathers and ran down. They were a deep black, with a sort of bluish highlight that Harry had thought could only be found in Muggle comic books. He reached out a hand and stroked one wing, sinking his fingers down into the feathers, and shuddered. He could understand why Magus, _Draco_, had melted when Harry scratched his back. It felt _wonderful_.

Wonderful feeling aside, Harry had wings. _WINGS_. As far as Harry knew, no human had wings, not even wizards. So that meant that Harry wasn't human, which left the question ...

If he wasn't human, what was he?

oOoOoOoOoOo


	3. Chapter 3

Title: A Wing And A Prayer  
Author: Amejistuo  
Fandom: Harry Potter with a hint of a crossover to be reveled at a later date.  
Pairing: Eventual Harry/Draco/Severus

Word Count for this chapter:  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. .  
Warnings/Squicks: Total break from canon after OotP. Misguided!Dumbles, Not so good!Order, bad language and misuse of feathers. Abuse of Chalk Horses. Watch out for a Snickering!Snape as well, although he's usually laughing AT Harry, not with him so hopefully he's not too OOC.  
Summary: Harry's about to turn seventeen and is planning on making a few changes. Problem is, there are certain changes he isn't expecting, and they'll alter his life more than he could have ever imagined.

Beta'd by the wonderful Suki. Thank you dearest!

Notes: First things first, while this is a Harry has wings fic, it is NOT a Vanterra or Veela fic. He's got wings for a totally different reason, but the reason will be reveled later on in the fic. You'll figure it out with Harry. I do have to admit that a lot of the ideas of how Harry looks, wingspan, weight, height, all that good stuff, comes from three different sources. One is Warren Worthington III, also know to X-men fans as Angel. Another is Carter Hall, aka Hawkman.

The third is a secret, because I'm using bits of that fandom for a crossover. Not any characters or anything but for historical background.

This is gonna be another slow story folks. I'll be updating about once a month. And yet again I ignore the last two books pretty much altogether. I may use some bits of, say, Severus's back story with Lilly, but there isn't any horcruxes and there was never any oath between Severus and Narcissa to keep Draco safe. Sorry folks, but the last two books aren't my favorite. For god's sake JK made Draco BALD! That's just so wrong.

**Chapter Three**

"It's about time you got out of the bath, I thought you'd fallen or went down the drain or something, I was about to send one of the Elves to look for you."

Harry blushed and took a seat across from Draco in what looked to be his study. "I got lost. This place seems as big as Hogwarts."

Draco looked at him and harrumphed. "I would have thought maybe those new eyebrows of yours had got in the way. You do realize that when you turn fifty your eyebrows will overtake the rest of your face?"

Harry glared at the blond. "Shut it, git!"

"I supposed whatever changes that happened to you were mostly good though, so I might be able to deal with the eyebrows. I mean, you're no longer a scrawny little prat, you're a big, strapping prat. And I can't call you four-eyes anymore since you don't seem to need glasses."

"Just as well, it was getting old. I would think someone as wonderful as you could think of something original, Malfoy."

"What's wrong with a classic? Still, the wings do give me more options. We'll have to see what you are before I settle on a new put down." Draco looked him up and down. "Still, I think you've finally had your growth spurt. Well, we'd best move to the dining room. Merlin only knows when Severus will be free to dine with us and I'd say you'd welcome a good meal."

Harry found himself blushing and not knowing what to say. To tell the truth he wasn't quite sure what to make of himself. He had grown a lot ; he now stood at nearly 6 feet, and if he had to guess, Harry would say he now weighed 10-11 stone! His waist was trim but his shoulders had broadened. His chest was wide as well, it looked almost as if he'd been lifting Muggle weights. It was an altogether new look for him.

His face and hair was different too. He no longer looked like a carbon copy of James Potter. His face had gone from a round shape to more of an oval shape and he actually had cheekbones now. His eyes were roughly the same, and Harry couldn't help but be thankful for that. His eyes were one of his few links to his mother.

Well, except for the killer eyebrows threatening to take over his forehead. Draco was right, when he got old they'd turn into a giant unibrow and would probably be all wiry.

"Quit daydreaming, Harry, and come along. I've asked for a brunch that can be held warm in case Severus is able to come back, but I daresay you'll be able to actually think once you've eaten. If one can call what happens between your ears thinking."

"Ha bloody ha, you Ferret. I might not have an IQ as high as you or Severus but I have actually had a thought."

"Prove it, Feathers."

As they bickered, Harry followed Draco through the halls of Malfoy Manor and down the stairs until they reached the dining room. It was an ornate room, with a large table – big enough for at least eighteen to twenty people – made of oak with a sort of Celtic boarder with dragons carved into the legs and around the edges. An armless straight back chair with the back and seat upholstered in a forest green and ivory was pulled out for both him and Draco. Harry only hesitated for a moment before sitting down, keeping a watch on Draco out of the corner of his eye to make sure he didn't make any etiquette mistakes.

Hermione had harped at him for a good fifteen minuets once during a school banquet when he'd used the wrong fork. As far as Harry was concerned a fork was a fork, who cared how many tines it had?

Draco must have seen his glances. "Just eat, Potter, I already know you were raised by Neanderthals. At long as you don't pick your nose and eat it I won't be shocked."

Harry bit back the comment that came to the front of his brain. Considering that Draco's two bodyguards had turned against him, a Crabbe and Goyle joke would be in poor taste. "Yeah, well I'll save it and stick 'em under the table, how's that?"

"Eat first, discuss disgusting things later." Draco shook out a linen napkin that not only matched the tablecloth but the draperies and the upholstery of the furniture too, and placed it on his lap. It was then that Harry noticed that Draco pretty much matched the room as well, with dark green linen trousers and a cream button down shirt. He shrugged. It must be a wealth thing. Or a Malfoy thing.

Then Draco knocked on the table and food appeared much as it did at Hogwarts. There was a tray of sausages and bacon, another platter with scrambled eggs with green bits Harry assumed were chives. There was a small plate by his place setting with hot buttered croissants and a small bowl of fresh fruit was nearby. The smell of bergamot coming from a cup made Harry smile.

Draco knew his favorite tea.

Then Harry had to bite his lip to keep from laughing out loud at himself. As if Draco Malfoy actually cared about what his favorites were. More than likely, it was a tea that Draco himself liked. Snape always did say Harry was too involved with himself, perhaps he had a point.

Harry quickly served himself, taking the platters Draco passed him with a nod of thanks. He would have thought that the Elves would serve them at Malfoy Manor, but perhaps Draco was trying to put him at ease, because it did feel as if he was back at Hogwarts for the moment. Then again maybe for all his airs, Draco wasn't fond of having House Elves cut his sausages into bite sized bits for him.

Breakfast was a quiet affair; neither he nor Draco made any conversation and mostly concentrated on eating. For his part, Harry had no idea what to say. A year ago if anyone had told him he'd be enjoying a nice meal in Malfoy Manor he would have suggested they needed a visit to St. Mungo's.

Now that it had actually happened, Harry was at a loss. No only did he have no idea what to say, his new wings were making it awkward to sit, the high backed chair digging into his bones.

"Oh for Merlin's sake, Potty, you're a wizard!" Draco pulled his wand out of his sleeve and pointed at Harry's chair before he could even flinch. The chair shuddered and then the back shortened itself, coming to rest in Harry's lower back, leaving his wings free.

Harry smiled abashedly. "Thanks. I didn't think of that."

"Is your _family_ the reason you don't think of using magic first?"

Harry paused in the middle of eating a bit of strawberry and then continued. He should have known Draco would want some answers about the Dursleys. At least he wasn't like Hermione, demanding answers and giving her own opinion of what Harry should have done differently. It was a good opening question without seeming too nosy.

"Mostly. You've got to understand, I was punished for ianything/i that went wrong in that house, whether I had something to do with it or not. There were some instances of accidental magic, mostly magics that helped me survive a beating or keep me alive, but I was almost blamed when Vernon didn't get a raise, or his football team lost. When Dudley failed a test or Petunia was snubbed by one of the ladies of her Garden Club. If it rained on a holiday, I was blamed. And I didn't even know why I was being punished until Hagrid came and told me I was a wizard."

"Hagrid? That ... "

Harry glared at his friend and considered throwing a croissant at him, only they were too good to waste. "Yes, Hagrid. I know that he isn't the most reliable wand in the bunch, he couldn't keep a secret if his life depended on it and it was entirely too easy for Dumbledore to manipulate him. You've got to understand, he was the first person I ever met from the magical world, and he stuck up for me to the Dursleys. No one, not a teacher, not the police and not that old biddy Figg who was Dumbledore's spy, had ever done that for me before. He gave Dudders a pig tail of all things, and he gave me my first birthday cake and my first ever present, Hedwig. I'd be lost without her."

"All right, I'll lay off the ... Hagrid." Unsaid was the fact that Malfoy was glad the half-giant was across the Channel in France. Harry just nodded. He didn't care if Draco actually liked Hagrid, just as long as the blond didn't give him any grief over him, especially since Harry was planning on sending a message to Hagrid as soon as possible. If anyone knew what Harry was now, it would be Hagrid. Or Snape, although the Head of Slytherin probably knew more about whatever he was concerning potions than anything else. Then again Hagrid might tell Dumbledore and that would not be a good thing. Perhaps it would be better if he waited.

They ate quietly for a few moments before Harry decided to offer more information. Why, he wasn't quite sure. Perhaps it was because he felt he owed it to Draco. Either that or it was the fact that Draco was far enough removed from the situation to see things more clearly. "You know, I don't get why Dumbledore insists on keeping me there, if there were any Blood Wards they would have been bloody useless since ol' Snake Face took my blood at the end of Fourth Year.

"Some days I think the Headmaster does really think my family is fond of me and is trying to hide it or some such rubbish. That, given the chance, humans will be kind to each other, mundane and magical alike, and we'll all hold hands and sing songs and eat lemon drops. Probably thinks that when I wank I ejaculate rainbows and rose petals."

Hearing that, Draco gave a choked laugh and Harry had to pound him on his back to keep him from inhaling the last of his scrambled eggs. "Potter!"

"What? It's not as if the Gryffindor Golden Boy would have something as common as spunk is it? I heard three of the Fourth Years discussing if my piss had magical properties if they bathed in it, disgusting little blighters. As if I don't get enough weirdness with the Creevey brothers stalking me. Granger had the nerve to lecture me for hexing them too. Wonder how she'd like a passel of fourteen year old boys following her to the loo half the time?"

By now Draco was laughing a most un-Malfoyish laugh and Harry found himself chuckling along. Now that a good six months had gone by, it was a funny situation. And Draco had a wonderful laugh when he let go of his Slytherin mask and allowed himself the freedom to be himself.

The smile fell off his face though when he remembered what he was talking about. "Then there are times when I'm sure that all I am to Dumbledore is a pawn, and he placed me at the Dursley's so they could beat the independence and curiosity out of me. So I wouldn't question anything he had to say, I would just follow along blindly. That he's manipulated everything in my life up to and including dropping a few hints in Hagrid's ear so that I'd know that all Dark Wizards came from Slytherin, and how I'd be considered evil if I went into that house even before I stepped onto the train at King's Cross."

Thankfully they didn't go into why Harry hadn't shaken Draco's hand that day. They'd already hashed that all out and had come to the conclusion that even if Harry and Draco had become friends, the Headmaster would have never allowed it and would have done something to create a rift. Then again that had been a conversation held on one of his more cynical days. Perhaps Dumbledore would have felt that Harry could lead Draco to the Light if given the chance.

"I find it far more likely that the Headmaster is somewhere in between those two extremes, although his actions this morning lead me to wonder."

Both he and Draco swiveled around in their chairs to find Snape standing in the door way. Harry barely had time to notice Draco's relived smile when he realized he'd knocked his tea up over with his wings and now his breakfast was soggy.

Those bloody things were going to take some time getting used to.

A few minutes later the mess had been cleared away by Elves and he and Draco enjoyed another cup of tea to keep Snape company while he ate.

"Do I even know what's going on?" Harry could just imagine Dumbledore and his order running around like a swarm of bees in their confusion.

Draco snorted at his question. "Better yet, did the Old Coot do everyone a favor and have a stroke when he found out the bird had flown the coop?"

Harry glared at the blond but otherwise ignored him, but he couldn't help but notice that Snape's lips twitched in what might have been a smile. "Not even the potion I brewed for Potter could make us_ that_ lucky. He does have nearly every Order member who can stay seated on a broom up in the air looking for you, Potter. I do hope you used what passes for a brain when you flew away from the comforting bosom of your _beloved_ family."

Draco rolled his eyes and yet still managed to turn his nose up at the same time. Harry was amazed the blond didn't have a facial twitch after that. "He was going to use the _Muggle bus_ Severus. The one for commoners!"

"And how many wizards would think to look at Muggle transportation, Draco?" Harry looked at his friend, convinced that Draco took the view opposite his just so they could fight.

"None, because it's degrading."

Harry sighed. "Please tell me it's the public part of the transportation that's got you in a snit, and not the Muggle part."

"Potter ... "

"Yes please, do continue Draco."

Snape had an odd look on his face and Harry squirmed in his seat for reasons he didn't quite know. That expression on Snape just made him uncomfortable somehow.

"I just don't get how you can bloody well sit here and joke while you're being hunted by the people who are supposed to be on your bloody side! Aren't you angry? I'd be furious if I was forced into that, that ihovel/i with those people! Even if they were magical they'd still be disgusting!"

Harry gave his friend a tired smile. "Draco, it's hard to keep up being furious. I was angry when I was sent to the Dursley's at the end of my First Year, but by the end of my Fourth Year I was resigned. I was mad when Dumbledore didn't do anything to help me get out of the Tri-wizard Tournament and I was bloody well furious when I realized that the secrets Dumbledore kept from me cost Sirius his life. By this time I am resigned to the fact that the man is manipulating my life. I don't doubt that he's planned my heroic death in battle, up to and including my obituary and eulogy. The only question is just who knows about my new ... condition."

Thanks to the Ministry, and on his more morbid days, he guessed the Headmaster had a hand in it as well; many people with creature blood and half breeds were being forced from the country. Due to this Harry doubted that Dumbledore had known of his forthcoming transformation.

It would be wonderfully ironic if the Savior of Wizarding Briton was forced from his own country thanks to Dumbledore's manipulations.


	4. Chapter 4

Title: A Wing And A Prayer  
Author: Amejistuo  
Fandom: Harry Potter with a hint of a crossover to be reveled at a later date.  
Pairing: Eventual Harry/Draco/Severus  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. .  
Warnings/Squicks: Total break from canon after OotP. Misguided!Dumbles, Not so good!Order, bad language and misuse of feathers. Abuse of Chalk Horses. Watch out for a Snickering!Snape as well, although he's usually laughing AT Harry, not with him so hopefully he's not too OOC.  
Summary: Harry's about to turn seventeen and is planning on making a few changes. Problem is, there are certain changes he isn't expecting, and they'll alter his life more than he could have ever imagined.

Beta'd by the wonderful Suki. Thank you dearest!

Notes: First things first, while this is a Harry has wings fic, it is NOT a Vanterra or Veela fic. He's got wings for a totally different reason, but the reason will be reveled later on in the fic. You'll figure it out with Harry. I do have to admit that a lot of the ideas of how Harry looks, wingspan, weight, height, all that good stuff, comes from three different sources. One is Warren Worthington III, also know to X-men fans as Angel. Another is Carter Hall, aka Hawkman.

The third is a secret, because I'm using bits of that fandom for a crossover. Not any characters or anything but for historical background.

This is gonna be another slow story folks. I'll be updating about once a month. And yet again I ignore the last two books pretty much altogether. I may use some bits of, say, Severus's back story with Lilly, but there isn't any horcruxes and there was never any oath between Severus and Narcissa to keep Draco safe. Sorry folks, but the last two books aren't my favorite. For god's sake JK made Draco BALD! That's just so wrong.

Chapter Four

"There, I do believe we had a stroke of luck. As far as I am aware, only the Headmaster, Moody, Shacklebolt and a new Order member, a retired Auror named Patrick Canis, knows of your new form. When the Order was summoned to look for you, the Headmaster implied that you had left on your broomstick, and asked people to start an aerial search."

Harry snorted. He wasn't sure if he should be glad or angered that Dumbledore thought so little of his intelligence. "Please don't tell me he expects to find me in Diagon Alley or pop up at The Burrow?"

Snape sneered, but for once Harry knew it wasn't aimed at him. "He feels certain you will attempt to visit Gringotts at the very least, not just for your trust vault. The goblins would make good allies if one could convince them."

Draco nodded. "My Father ... " There was a pause there that both Harry and Severus ignored. "He always treated them with respect. Oh, not in front of other Death Eaters, but half of the time he'd go in the early mornings to do his business with them, behind closed doors. He always taught me that you had to give them a certain amount of respect since they handled not only our banking but things such as trust funds, wills, warding. Only a foolish wizard would get the goblins mad at you."

Harry frowned. "Maybe later I can visit Gringotts once I'm sure some git from the Order won't pounce on me. First things first, I'll need to hide these bloody wings. While picking up and leaving England has a certain amount of appeal, Tom will follow wherever I go."

Draco looked at both him and Snape. "Let's move this to my study so the Elves can clear away."

Harry stood up and meekly followed the two Slytherins as they left the dining room and made their way through the maze that was Malfoy Manor. So many things had changed in the past twenty-four hours, he wasn't quite sure what to think. In the back of his head, he could almost hear his uncle's voice calling him a winged freak, but he mostly ignored that. He'd decided long ago that anything the Dursleys disapproved of was almost automatically a good thing, just to be contrary. And the wings were pretty damn cool. After all there was nothing Harry loved more than to fly and hopefully he'd be able to learn how to use his new appendages and be able to soar without a broomstick.

Still, he was in Malfoy Manor, with its marble floors and china vases and its ... poshness. Harry felt as if he breathed too hard, something would break or be terribly damaged. And it wasn't just his lack of status that was making Harry uneasy. While he had been able to form friendships with both the men he was currently following, it wasn't the easy camaraderie that he'd once had with the Weasleys. Harry was reminded of all the times he'd been dragged shopping with Petunia when he was young, forced to carry her bags and parcels and knowing that none of it was for him. Draco and Severus had a close friendship and Harry was on the outside of it looking in.

It didn't really help knowing that if he was with Neville and Luna he'd probably be feeling just the same. After all he'd felt like the third wheel when Ron and Hermione started dating or whatever they called snogging and fighting at the same time. It seemed as if he was cursed to be the odd one out.

That feeling was only reinforced whey they entered Draco's study. Harry hadn't looked around before but now he noticed the two comfortable chairs situated in front of a small fireplace. Each had a small end table beside it and both had little bits and bobs that proved that both men sat there quite frequently, with books and papers and even what looked to be a flute case by the chair that Draco had taken.

The entire room was like that. It had a high ceiling with three of the walls covered in huge book shelves. The fourth wall had just as big windows that had French doors that opened to a balcony that overlooked a garden. By the open door was a large perch. There were various knick knacks and scrolls laying about on some of the shelves and a huge table with chairs with what looked to be both a guitar and a violin case in amongst loose bits of paper and potion bottles and ingredients. In one corner was a piano and another had a huge roll top desk with even more papers and quills and something in one cubby hole that glowed.

It was by far the messiest room Harry had seen in the Manor. It was also the homiest.

Draco pulled out his wand and conjured a low-backed but comfortable chair. "Have a seat, Po – Harry. We have much to talk about."

Harry smiled as he sat down carefully, wary of accidentally sitting on his wings. "Thank you, Draco." It was odd to call Draco by his name, even now that they had been friends for months. "And I've got to thank you both again for the birthday gifts. They were really great."

"Even if it was my potion that caused your metamorphosis?" Snape was looking at him almost as if the man was attempting _Legilimency_ on Harry, even though Harry felt no pressure on the shields surrounding his mind.

Then again he was pants at _Legilimency_ when it came to Snape so maybe the man was reading his mind. Harry decided to play it safe and tell the truth. "Well, by the looks of things I've finally gotten my growth, I'm not stuck as a ruddy fourteen-year-old anymore. And while the wings are rather ... odd, I do love to fly and I'm hoping I can get Hedwig to teach me later on today if there's time."

"If you like I can play mother bird for you, Harry. We'll go up to the highest point of the Manor and I'll shove you off the roof."

Harry glared at Draco. "Thanks but no thanks." He shrugged and noticed his wings ruffled oddly when he did so. "Seriously, I've been told I was a freak for as long as I can remember. It's gotten to the point that if the Dursleys are normal, I'd rather be a freak."

"I'd rather be a flobberworm than have anything in common with those _Muggles_."

Draco's voice showed his disgust and Snape's mouth gave a wry twist that might have been a smile. For his part, Harry had no urge to defend his relatives. For that matter, most of the people on Privet Drive were cut from the same cloth as the Dursleys. Vain, ignorant people who went out of their way to impress their neighbors that they were all better than one another while gossiping behind each other's back. For that matter they'd stab each other in their backs as well.

Never did one of the neighbors speak up on his behalf, or even sneak him food or a glass of water. Mrs. Figg was just as bad as the rest and finding out that she'd been placed there by Dumbledore still made Harry furious.

"Have they always treated you so abysmally?"

Harry snorted and wondered how to answer Severus Snape, the man who had always accused him of being spoilt. "Actually, this year was monumentally crappy. Almost as bad as the summer before my Second Year. Then again not being able to leave the house meant I didn't have to clean out the garage or work in the garden. And Petunia fed me a bit more. Of course it was mostly her cooking since she was afraid that I'd poison them, which makes it worse. Petunia can burn water when she sets her mind to it."

"Would you poison them?" Both Slytherins seemed to be looking at him, wondering how Harry would answer Snape's question.

"No. Simply because I'm not good enough at Potions to make one of the undetectable poisons, and if I hired someone else to do it there's always a chance they'll tell someone or blackmail me. If I were to kill them, I'd have to make sure no one could trace it back to me and an accomplice would just make things risky. Plus dumping their bodies would be a pain -- I might be able to carry Petunia out of the house, but there isn't a carpet known to man big enough to wrap up Dudley or Vernon so I could drop them in the Thames. I reckon if I used magic to shrink down their bodies I'd be caught."

"Bravo, Mr. Potter, for once you're using the space in between your ears for something other than Quidditch."

Harry shook his head in amusement. Of course Snape would approve of him finding such a Slytherin reason not to kill the Dursleys. Even Draco was giving him a proud smirk. "Let's forget about my oh-so-lovely family for the moment. Anyone have an idea what magical creature I am? And please, Professor, call me Harry. I'm sick to death of hearing the name Potter at the moment. It's about up there with being called 'Boy'."

Snape nodded and seemed to smile slightly at that and Harry couldn't help but feel he'd accomplished something. After all it had been quite some time since he'd mended his bridges with the older wizard near the start of the school year and yet it was only now he was unbending enough to call him by his name.

"Well you're absolutely not a Veela."

Harry gave Draco a look. "And how would you know?"

"Simple. Most Veelas, even those that aren't full-blooded like that Delacour wench, are fair haired, blond usually. Plus there is no sexual pull, which one would feel if you had enough Veela blood to allow you to have wings."

Harry really _looked_ at Draco. "You mean you ..."

"Oh yes, there is Veela blood in the Malfoy line. Not much mind you, just enough to make me gorgeous and irrefutably charming when I have a mind to it."

"His head expands to three times its size as well." Snape's comment made Harry out and out laugh. He'd never known the git had such a sense of humor. Then again maybe it was the fact that the professor was insulting someone else for a change.

"Well then, I'm glad I could help with that. If you like, I'll tell you about our first detention in the Forbidden Forest, and how Draco shrieked like a girl ..."

"It was the Dark Lord sucking the blood out of a unicorn, Potty! Only someone as thick as you wouldn't be scared."

"Like a little girl in frilly knickers."

"That will be quite enough I think. Any further and the two of you will force me to ingest one of my own poisons, just to get away from this conversation. Does anyone have any pertinent ideas on how to hide Harry's wings?"

Hearing Snape call him by his actual name threw Harry for a loop. It was odd but somehow comforting. He shook his head to clear it. "Too bad you can't combine a Notice-Me-Not charm with something like the _Fidelus_. That way only the people who knew about my wings would notice them. Maybe mix in some sort of confidentiality charm with it so Dumbledore can't tell."

The other two wizards gave him a look and then turned to do one of the silent communication thing that close friends, family and couples could do.

He wondered which of those Draco and Severus called each other. They were closer than friends, possibly family. But were they a couple? Harry had no clue. What he knew about relationships could fill a thimble. Still he couldn't help but wonder.

"Severus, I do believe that Harry might just be smarter than he's been letting on."

"Indeed." They again turned to give him a look and Harry shrugged.

"Hey, don't look at me. I don't even know if it's possible, much less how to do it. I just get the crazy ideas."

Saying that hurt because usually it was Hermione who worked out if Harry's wild theories could be done. And Hermione wasn't there anymore. She was still with Ron, standing by her man even though said man was a childish prat.

"Perhaps idiot savant would be a better term."

"Oi!" Harry found himself grinning at his two friends, and that was what they were, in spite of Snape's insult. And he realized what he said earlier was true. Harry was used to being a freak, had been called that, and been called worse, a hundred times since he was a baby. Yet here he was, sitting in Malfoy's home with a pair of wings on his back being insulted and he felt more normal than he'd ever felt in all his life.


	5. Chapter 5

Title: A Wing And A Prayer  
Author: Amejistuo  
Fandom: Harry Potter with a hint of a crossover to be reveled at a later date.  
Pairing: Eventual Harry/Draco/Severus  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. .  
Warnings/Squicks: Total break from canon after OotP. Misguided!Dumbles, Not so good!Order, bad language and misuse of feathers. Abuse of Chalk Horses. Watch out for a Snickering!Snape as well, although he's usually laughing AT Harry, not with him so hopefully he's not too OOC.  
Summary: Harry's about to turn seventeen and is planning on making a few changes. Problem is, there are certain changes he isn't expecting, and they'll alter his life more than he could have ever imagined.

Beta'd by the wonderful Suki. Thank you dearest!

Notes: First things first, while this is a Harry has wings fic, it is NOT a Vanterra or Veela fic. He's got wings for a totally different reason, but the reason will be reveled later on in the fic. You'll figure it out with Harry. I do have to admit that a lot of the ideas of how Harry looks, wingspan, weight, height, all that good stuff, comes from three different sources. One is Warren Worthington III, also know to X-men fans as Angel. Another is Carter Hall, aka Hawkman.

The third is a secret, because I'm using bits of that fandom for a crossover. Not any characters or anything but for historical background.

This is gonna be another slow story folks. I'll be updating about once a month. And yet again I ignore the last two books pretty much altogether. I may use some bits of, say, Severus's back story with Lilly, but there isn't any horcruxes and there was never any oath between Severus and Narcissa to keep Draco safe. Sorry folks, but the last two books aren't my favorite. For god's sake JK made Draco BALD! That's just so wrong.

**Chapter Five**

Harry saw a gyrfalcon on one of the perches in the aviary of Malfoy Manor and found himself in a state of confusion. "I thought you were Magus."

Draco followed his gaze and snorted. "What use is a disguise if there isn't a real bird to help me follow through with it? Severus has several rooks actually, and they're all quite intelligent. I think one of them is supposed to follow you and tell him when you're out of the Lion's Den at night."

Harry laughed. "That bastard! I should have known. Still, your bird looks just like you, or your Animagus form looks just like your bird, I'm not sure which it should be. How did you do that?'

Draco wrinkled his nose and looked around. "Get your owl and let's go out to the back garden. Despite the house-elves cleaning this place constantly, it still smells of birds."

Harry looked around the aviary. Malfoy Manor had a flock of impressive post owls of different breeds and sizes, plus Magus and two other predatory birds that Harry assumed had belonged to Draco's parents. And sure enough, there were three or four rooks mixed in, watching him from the shadows. There were even a few exotic birds, parrots and the like. While there was the general smell of birds, there were no droppings on the floor and the perches and the water dishes were clean and fresh.

Harry held up his arm and gave a short whistle and from one of the corners, near one of the ravens, a white shadow disengaged herself and soared down. Harry grinned at his friend. "Hey there, girl, you liking it here okay? Hot and cold running mice for you to catch?"

Hedwig blinked at him and gave a short little hiss. As a Snowy Owl, Hedwig didn't hoot really, her loud call was more of a barking sound. Most of the time though she clicked her beak at him or hissed, the loud cackles and shrieks of her breed being too loud and conspicuous at the Dursley's. They had both got used to being as quiet as possible, so as not to draw attention.

Hedwig was also more of a daytime owl. Hermione had told him the fancy name for it once but Harry couldn't remember. All he knew was that Hedwig was usually awake when Harry was, which was nice because they were able to keep each other company. He didn't know what he'd do without Hedwig; she kept him sane when no one else even noticed he was upset.

"If you're quite finished cuddling your owl, let's get out of here. I'm allergic to feathers."

Harry glared at the blond. "You are not! Your bloody Animagus form is a bird for fuck's sake!" Then Harry gave a wicked grin. "You're just jealous I like Hedwig better than you!"

The owl in question preened and fluffed up all her feathers in pride and both boys laughed at her as they exited the aviary. As soon as they left the building, Hedwig took wing but flew just a few feet in front of Harry and Draco, almost as if she was trying to show Harry how it was done.

They were following a gravel strewn path on the west side of the house to one of the lawns that was clear of any trees or bushes. Draco had said that it was used for croquet at one time, but Harry couldn't see the other boy running around after the ball.

Running around trying to hit people with his mallet was more Draco's style. Probably why there weren't any wickets up.

"Magus didn't look quite like my form when I bought him. I did, however, wait to see what exactly my form looked like to purchase him. There's a potion that will bind a wizard's familiar to them, give them greater intelligence, a longer life span and it sort of makes them whatever their wizard needs in a familiar. It's commonly used ..." Draco trailed off and looked over his shoulder. "And by the look on your face no one has actually told you this before. Damn. Well, no worries, I have some extra, I'll just have the house-elf fetch one of the bottles." They had reached the lawn, and the pavilion Draco had ordered the elves to set up. It was a linen colored awning like tent with the sides open. Two deck chairs and a small table with refreshments sat in the middle.

"Wow. This is posh!"

"No, you've been deprived. Now, I'm just here to make sure you don't break your brain, not that that's possible considering how thick your skull is. So ... flap your wings or whatever and get flying."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Wow, thanks for the encouragement, I feel like floating away just listening to you."

Draco just waved him away and picked up a glass of water. "Fly away, birdie."

"Bastard." Harry ignored the irritating blond and walked to a clear area. This was a good place to practice flying, the grass was soft and springy and while there were trees around the clearing, if he fell there was a good chance he wouldn't hit anything.

Harry thought for a moment and then took his wand out of his pocket. If he crashed he didn't want to break it, or worse, hex his knackers. He also slipped of his shoes and the shirt Draco had given him to wear. It was transfigured around his wings but Harry didn't want anything restricting him. He bundled them up and put them out of the way.

Then, for the first time really, Harry unfurled his wings and stretched them as far out as they would go. It felt bloody _wonderful_! Like stretching after a good sleep. The warm sun felt wonderful as well, and Harry turned his face up to look at the bright blue August sky.

He then jumped when something flickered over his eyes. He looked down and they seemed the same but when he looked up it felt like something was covering them. He could see clearly though, so he didn't get it.

Hedwig took advantage of his wings still being stretched out and landed on one, blinking at him rapidly. "What? They're supposed to be there?" Harry vaguely remembered a report for primary school about how some birds of prey had extra eyelids to keep the sun out of their eyes. Hawks had deep set eyes for that reason as well. "Damn. I guess I know why my eyebrows look like hedges then. Blast." It was more creature traits to hide. And he so wasn't going to pluck his eyebrows like Draco suggested, the poofter.

Harry shrugged it off for now. He didn't really want to hide his wings or his eyes to tell the truth. They were part of him now, and he was tired of hiding exactly who he was. He turned his face to the sky again and enjoyed the fact that he could see in the bright sunshine without being blinded. Hedwig bounced a couple of times on his wing and then took off slowly, showing him just exactly how her wings worked before flying up a few hundred feet and circling overhead.

"Here goes nothing." He flapped his wings a few times to get the feel of it and then suddenly found himself in the air.

If just stretching his wings felt good, flying was orgasmic.

It was a million times better than flying on his broom. There weren't words for how wonderful it was. He finally rose high enough that Malfoy Manor looked like a child's toy on a blanket of greens and golds. He circled a few moments, following Hedwig in a short game of tag before flying back down and landing carefully, bending his knees to absorb his weight.

Harry's face ached from grinning and he was a bit out of breath, but that didn't stop Harry from running to where Draco was sitting, throwing himself into the other chair in his exuberance and nearly pulling off his own wing.

He ignored it though. He was just too excited to care.

"Did you see that, Draco! It was fucking brilliant!"

Draco gave him an actual smile. "It is, isn't it? I don't think I'll ever forget my first flight in my Animagus form. That's why I let you go this one alone."

"You so need to come with me the next run. I stopped because I wasn't too sure about just, you know, flying away and worrying you, but if you come with me then you won't worry. And if I go too far I won't get lost. Maybe the Professor can come with us once he's finished making Dumbledore think he's looking for me. And boy does that sound odd."

"Later, first we need to get you and your birdie taken care of. Here, catch." Draco tossed a small dram bottle and Harry's eyes automatically tracked it and his hand snatched it out of the air. "Good to know sprouting wings hasn't diminished your Seeking abilities."

"Ha! You wish!" Harry looked at the amber bottle. "This is supposed to do ... what exactly?" He wasn't giving anything to Hedwig that he didn't know about. He might be willing to risk his own health and down anything Draco or Snape gave him, but he wouldn't do that to Hedwig.

"Really, Harry, it isn't as if I want to poison her. You on the other hand ..." Harry glared and Draco smirked. "Seriously, what it does is sort of bond a wizard to his familiar. For instance, Magus will come when I call him mentally, and while he can't quite communicate in words he can show me pictures of what he's seeing. It also changed the pattern of his plumage to match mine when I'm in my animal form, and it gave me some of his characteristics. The way we fly is exactly the same, and we both like our backs scratched in the exact same place. But it will be different for you, because it makes your familiar what _you_ want or need. Severus's ravens spy for him, and keep watch on certain students in the castle or what have you. I wouldn't be surprised if the buggers also bring him potions ingredients, they have a tendency to collect things."

Harry had a mental image of Snape, standing in a clearing of the Forbidden Forest, a flock of ravens swirling about him, each with a different plant or bug in their grasp. He couldn't stop himself from laughing. "Severus Snape, Master of Potions and Master Spy with his own army of rooks to do his bidding. I can see that!"

They both laughed for a moment and when it trailed away Harry was left with the decision of if he should use the potion or not. "You promise me this won't hurt her?"

Draco sighed. "You're making me break a family rule, here, Harry, I hope you appreciate that. I promise, on my magic no less, no harm will come to Hedwig. I'm not sure what it will do for her, especially since you've had her for a few years and you're so close already. If you would have been in any other House, your Head would have approached you about it by the end of Second Year, if not earlier, since it's quite clear you'll never have another familiar. Why that old pussy McGonagall didn't, I have no clue."

Part of Harry felt he should call Draco out on his degrading term for his Head of House but most of Harry's brain felt like Draco had a point. Plus, with an Animagus form of a cat, it wasn't all that wrong. "Right. What do I do?"

Draco smirked as if he'd gotten away with something and Harry fought the urge to kick him in the shins. "Simple. You feed Hedwig four drops, and then you drink the rest. Then you focus on what you feel for Hedwig, or what you need from her. The magic connects you and does the rest."

Harry held up his arm and Hedwig flew over and delicately landed on it. "Do you want to do this, girl? It's up to you." Hedwig looked at Draco and then Harry and bobbed her head up and down. Harry laughed. "I don't know how this will help us, girl, but I'm willing to give it a go if you are."

"At the very least it will increase Hedwig's life span, and perhaps give her some additional awareness of other wizards and magical beings."

"Right then. Open up, girl." Hedwig hopped from his arm to Harry's thigh, freeing up his arm so he could open the bottle. There was a dropper in it and he carefully measured out four drops into her open beak. Harry then made sure any excess from the dropper went back into the bottle and he quickly downed the rest.

It wasn't that bad of a flavor, rather like apples in fact. Harry shoved that fact from his mind and closed his eyes, his hands stroking Hedwig's feathers on her back. The one fear he'd always had was that something would happen to Hedwig. Every one of his friends had abandoned him at some time or another, by circumstance or choice, but Hedwig was Harry's one constant. He didn't know what he'd do without her.

Harry focused on that love he had for the snowy owl, the thrill he'd gotten when he'd first saw her, the fear that Vernon or someone at school would poison her or hurt her somehow, that Dudley would get his air pistol out and shoot her, or that now that Ron hated him he'd take his revenge by hurting her or ...

He stopped that train of thought and tried to focus on the friendship and love Hedwig had given him. The nights when he was at Privet Drive and had no one but his owl to comfort him through his nightmares. The times when he'd been hungry and she'd brought him mice. Not that he'd been _that_ hungry, but it was the thought that counted. Hedwig was always there for him, and he let that feeling of love and warmth he had for her flow from him and into his friend.

More than anything he wanted Hedwig to be safe and able to protect herself.

That feeling of love he had for her was warm, and then Harry started feeling hot. It was as if his magic was heating up and it flowed from his core down his arms and into his hands, bathing Hedwig in warmth. She gave a bark of astonishment, and fluffed up her feathers, the magic washing across her being. Harry's eyes were closed but they opened when he heard Draco gasp.

Hedwig was surrounded by magic, so bright it made looking into the sun earlier seem dim. Draco had covered his eyes and even Harry with his nifty new eyelid had to squint.

Suddenly there was a song, and Harry knew it was bursting from Hedwig. It was so happy, so wonderful that it made him want to laugh out loud and fly across all of Britain. It made him want to jump for joy and sing and run. It was the most wonderful sound he'd ever heard in all his life and something eased in Harry's heart. He could almost feel his connection to Hedwig and it was bursting with love for him and Harry found tears of happiness running down his face.

It was the same sort of feeling he'd always associated with how being loved by a parent might feel, and to Harry it was wondrous.

And when the light dimmed, and the magic had finished Harry found himself with a completely different bird, but it was still Hedwig just the same. Only instead of a snowy owl she had changed to ...

"Bloody buggering hell! She turned into a phoenix! Merlin's Pants! That's impossible!"

Harry found himself reaching forward and grabbing Hedwig up in a cuddle, not caring that she was a fire bird and was hot to the touch. "I don't care if it is impossible, it's bloody perfect! She's safe! No one can hurt her now, well it's nigh on impossible. She's safe and she won't leave me!" Harry still had tears running down his face and they sizzled when they hit the warmth of her feathers.

_oO"Silly fledgeling! As if I would have left you before! Still, keeping track of you will be much easier now, you're quite hard to take care of, my chick!"Oo_

Harry pulled back in shock. "Hedwig?"

_oO"Who else?"Oo_

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --


	6. Chapter 6

Title: A Wing And A Prayer  
Author: Amejistuo  
Fandom: Harry Potter with a hint of a crossover to be reveled at a later date.  
Pairing: Eventual Harry/Draco/Severus  
Rating: R  
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. .  
Warnings/Squicks: Total break from canon after OotP. Misguided!Dumbles, Not so good!Order, bad language and misuse of feathers. Abuse of Chalk Horses. Watch out for a Snickering!Snape as well, although he's usually laughing AT Harry, not with him so hopefully he's not too OOC.  
Summary: Harry's about to turn seventeen and is planning on making a few changes. Problem is, there are certain changes he isn't expecting, and they'll alter his life more than he could have ever imagined.

Beta'd by the wonderful Suki. Thank you dearest!

Notes: First things first, while this is a Harry has wings fic, it is NOT a Vanterra or Veela fic. He's got wings for a totally different reason, but the reason will be reveled later on in the fic. You'll figure it out with Harry. I do have to admit that a lot of the ideas of how Harry looks, wingspan, weight, height, all that good stuff, comes from three different sources. One is Warren Worthington III, also know to X-men fans as Angel. Another is Carter Hall, aka Hawkman.

The third is a secret, because I'm using bits of that fandom for a crossover. Not any characters or anything but for historical background.

This is gonna be another slow story folks. I'll be updating about once a month. And yet again I ignore the last two books pretty much altogether. I may use some bits of, say, Severus's back story with Lilly, but there isn't any horcruxes and there was never any oath between Severus and Narcissa to keep Draco safe. Sorry folks, but the last two books aren't my favorite. For god's sake JK made Draco BALD! That's just so wrong.

**Chapter Six**

Harry felt himself laughing hysterically in relief and happiness. "Who else indeed? That is so wicked! Can you hear her?"

When he looked at Draco he started laughing even harder; the blond's mouth was open in shock and he looked rather silly sitting here.

_oO"Only you can hear me for now, but if you ever Bond yourself to someone, they will be able to hear me as well. Now tell Falcon to close his mouth, it's undignified."Oo_

"Falcon, eh? Close your mouth, Draco, I wouldn't know but I have it on good authority that it's undignified."

"What the bloody fuck? That's supposed to be impossible!"

Harry just laughed again and ran his fingers through Hedwig's wings. "How do baby phoenixes appear? And I don't mean like when Fawkes has a Burning Day and turns back into a fledge."

"No one knows really, there are myths about phoenixes in the Middle East, Greece, Egypt, Asia ... the Greeks believed they nested near where the sun god Helios parked his chariot that drew the sun across the sky ... to the Chinese they represent the Yin to the dragon's Yang, and is a spirit of femininity and beauty and peace. Some even say that the phoenix is a gift from the gods ... no matter what though, I've never head of one turning up after having been bonded as a familiar!"

Harry just shrugged. "It could be the luck potion, because really this is the best thing that's happened in ages. Then again it could be just me, weird stuff always happens to me." Either way Harry didn't care. He had Hedwig and she was nearly immortal. Even the killing curse couldn't hurt her now. "Go on, Hedwig, give us a good look at you. Let us see how gorgeous you are."

Instead of answering him telepathically, Hedwig gave off a trill that sounded a lot like laughter and flew to the middle of the pavilion.

"Merlin! You're beautiful, Hedwig!"

"For once I'll agree with you, Potty. Madame Hedwig, you make a beautiful phoenix."

Harry flushed, happy that Draco had nothing bad to say about his friend. Hedwig trilled again and flew around them in a circle and then hovered again in front of them. The white feathers that had been so much a part of her were still evident on her body, almost like an undercoat of sorts. The top layer of feathers, though, was every shade of red and gold, orange and yellow. It reminded Harry of a mosaic he'd seen in a Home and Garden shop once, of the sun. Bright colors that swirled around to make a beautiful whole.

Petunia had thought it was too gaudy. Harry had wished he'd had something that pretty in his cupboard while carrying her forty kilos of manure for her roses.

Hedwig must have sensed the way his thoughts were leading because she flew over and perched on his shoulder, her talons sharper than they'd been when she'd been an owl. _oO"Stop that! Do not think of those ... vermin anymore, my own. They treated you horribly and the best way to get revenge is to never think of them again." Oo_

Harry laughed and played with one of her tail feathers. "The best revenge is living well, eh?"

_oO"That, and I bet my droppings are caustic now."Oo_

"HEDWIG!"

Harry's mouth had dropped open at his familiar's statement and Draco was looking at him as if he'd gone around the twist.

"It's very odd only hearing half of the conversation. Care to share what she said that made you go all Puritanical?"

"I – she – I was thinking about the Dursleys and she said not to, that living well would be a good way to get back at them, and _then_ she mentioned that her droppings would most likely catch on fire or something! I thought phoenixes were supposed to be beings of goodness and Light!"

_oO"And burning what little hair your uncle has on his head would be a good thing!"Oo_

"Bloody hell! You're a menace! A pyromaniac menace!"

Hedwig preened as Harry related to Draco what his phoenix had said and Draco laughed. Harry couldn't remember feeling this good, not in a very long time. Before the Tri-Wizard Tournament at the very least. It was his best birthday since Hagrid had come to tell him he was a wizard. Hedwig was a phoenix and he had wings of his very own.

Now if only Voldemort would drop dead, and maybe Dumbledore's wardrobe would burn itself, preferably while he was wearing a good bit of it, life would be perfect!

Harry jumped up, unable to sit still any longer. "Come on, Draco! Fly with me!"

"What if Severus comes back?"

Snape had gone to throw his two Masters off Harry's trail, looking for him someplace else or some such. They had agreed to shelve all talk of the future for the next day, Harry being given the day off in honor of his birthday. He'd been surprised at that, no one ever really did anything for his birthday but Snape had given him a look before flooing away, going to "look" for Harry in Diagon Alley.

"Tell your elves to tell Hedwig, she'll relay any message. He said to Draco before turning back to Hedwig. 'Won't you, lovely?'

_oO"But of course. The Raven has always been nice to me when we've visited, despite his cawing and complaining."Oo_

Harry laughed. For one thing, Hedwig had Snape's personality pegged. He was only now learning when Snape snarked he wasn't always being a bastard, it was just his odd sense of humor. He also found the fact that Hedwig had given both Draco and Snape bird names, Falcon and Raven, and she'd called Harry her chick. It was a very ... avian way of looking at things and he couldn't help but be amused.

It took a few more minutes of annoying Draco to get the blond to come with him. They'd not only left Hedwig watching for Snape, but told the house-elves what was going on and Draco had left a message before he turned into his gyrfalcon form and Harry had picked up his wand and disillusioned himself and opening his wings up for the open skies.

It felt so wonderful to fly, the warm sun on his back and his wings outstretched to catch the wind currents. Harry found himself laughing out loud doing stupid stunts like trying to do loops and barrel rolls like he would have on his broom.

Only this was a thousand times better than flying on a broom. He was free and if the current was just right Harry found his could soar without too much effort, and look down at the ground. They had just flown over a small Muggle village, the paved streets and cars looking like toys from this high above. It was difficult to see the businesses and houses, mostly all he saw was shingles and slate roofs and a few air conditioning units on the top of the bigger establishments. The gardens were a sight to see, though, every one seemed to be a different color of green with specks of colors that Harry took to be decorative shrubs and flowers.

A few of the houses even had swimming pools attached and there were usually occupied with people playing in the water or sunning themselves in the August sun. As they reached the edge of the town there was a stream lined with trees and in the distance the farmland turned into moors.

Draco gave a short shriek and led him the other way, following the stream to a series of small foothills. It was a beautiful area, more wonderful that Little Whinging had been. Not that all of Surrey was bad, Redhill was quiet nice if not exactly posh, but Little Whinging had been too close to the suburbs of London and was a company town, be it Grunnings' Drills or the various textile, machinery and chemical plants. It had been crowded and rather smelly, despite the perfectly edged gardens wherever you looked.

But while this village had been laid out carefully, there were winding roads around small groups of trees and walking paths that seemed to lead to nowhere and there were old cottages with ivy and climbing roses growing up the sides of them. A few gardens had been allowed to grow wild and were covered in dandelions or Queen Anne's Lace. The woods looked wild, not scary like the Forbidden Forest but Harry didn't doubt that there were a few pixies and fairies hiding within them along with a few other creatures.

The whole area surrounding Malfoy Manor was beautiful. He was a bit surprised that there were Muggles so close nearby but there was evidence of wizards living there as well. One of the gardens had what looked to be a half-quidditch pitch hidden by a copse of trees.

His attention wandered again, and Draco brought him out of it with another call. Privately, Harry thought Draco's Animagus form sounded like it had a hairball with it's 'kack-kack-kack' sound but he wasn't going to say anything.

Well, unless he could bring up the fact it was better than a ferret's 'dook-dook-dook' sound at the same time.

For the moment Harry just grinned and followed his friend, flying over several tree tops and over a series of hills. Then Draco wheeled around and Harry, assuming he was heading back for the Manor, followed. He then promptly lost a couple of hundred feet in altitude.

There, on the side of the hill, was the image of a giant white horse.

He'd heard of the White Horses of Wiltshire of course, especially the one in Uffington. There were eight of them still visible in the Wiltshire hillsides but he'd never thought he'd actually get to see one. What was even more exciting was the fact that he'd never seen pictures of this one before.

Harry circled the site a few times before following Draco to the ground. The other wizard transformed smoothly to his human form and landed gracefully and Harry ...

Misjudged how close he was to the ground and stumbled and nearly fell.

Draco was smirking at him, the bastard. "Nice to see some things don't ever change."

Harry flipped him off. "Prat." He then turned around on the hill, trying to tilt his head sideways so he could see the design carved into the hillside. "This is gorgeous. I don't think I've heard of this one before, what's the name of the town?"

"Halsford. This Horse is usually called The Stallion because of its obvious ... attributes."

Harry snickered. He'd been too shocked to really notice when he first saw it, but the Horse carved into the hill was _very_ well endowed. Draco smirked in agreement and then continued his lecture.

"What makes this Horse different is that it's believed to be one of the few Horses carved by wizards, as there are Muggle repelling charms around the area and it can only be seen by someone who is magical. There's a stone ring in the forest near here as well, and many of the Muggles avoid the wood, afraid of being carried off by the Fae. It's not as well preserved as Stonehenge, or some of the other monuments in the area but if you want on another day we can visit it, it's not swarming with Muggles and, Merlin forbid, _tourists_. Some of the witches and wizards who come from different countries are worse that the local common Muggles. At least they have a moderate amount of sense. You should see the Americans, traipsing around saying how 'quaint' the village is and then going to Stonehenge and running around starkers given half the chance. Winter Solstice it's not so bad but during the Summer? There are thousands of people here and half of the Muggles dress worse than Dumbledore on Wash Day. At least they usually keep their robes on. "

"Muggles are strange that way." At Draco's incredulous look Harry shrugged. "Don't get me wrong, I don't think that calling anyone Mudblood or going around torturing them just for laughs is right, but I don't think they should know about the Wizarding World either. It's as if Voldemort and Dumbledore have taken two points of view and gone to the opposite extreme, when a compromise in the middle would probably suit everyone better."

Harry took to the air for a moment and landed near the head of the Stallion. "Look, there's some sort of crystal in the middle of the eye." When he looked up to discuss it with Draco however, the blond's mouth was unhinged and he was giving Harry an odd look. "What?"

Draco shook his head and then gave him a bemused look. "Just when I think I'm starting to know you, you go and say something like that."

Harry snorted. "Remember I've been living with the Dursleys for ages, and have been living in a Muggle town filled with people like them. I know there are good Muggles, but I'd rather not associate with the majority of them. Then again I'm not fond of all wizards and witches either. "

"I've found in the last few months that idiots come from all races, classes and Houses. It wasn't a fun lesson to learn but I did learn it."

Harry merely nodded. What Draco said was true but just thinking about how his best friends had turned into prats was depressing. Therefore the subject needed changing.

"You think if we owled the Twins, they might know a charm that would animate The Stallion?"

"Probably, but knowing those two the thing would start to hump all the other local chalk horses and scare some poor drunken wizard to death." Draco paused, tilting his head to one side before looking at Harry and smirking. "Besides, if we do it ourselves, there won't be any witnesses!"

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

TBC ...

_Additional Author's Notes:_

For more information regarding chalk horses, look at my insane journal and there's a link that you can follow. And just so y'all know, Halsford is totally made up by me, as is The Stallion. 


End file.
